Safa referee boss happy with performances of match officials

SA Football Association (Safa) head of referees Abdul Ebrahim has defended recent performances by Premier Soccer League (PSL) match officials but admits there is room for improvement. 

Referees have been in the spotlight with some decisions questioned. Another talking point on Monday night was a confusing officiating moment when Gabadinho Mhango’s late equaliser for Moroka Swallows against Mamelodi Sundowns was initially overruled then allowed.

There has been debate as to whether Mhango was involved in play in the 2-2 draw when he was metres behind Sundowns’ last man to a long ball, and then, as referee Jelly Chavani ruled, was played onside by a misplaced header by Brazilians’ centreback Divine Lunga.

Downs coach Rulani Mokwena criticised the decision.

Former referee Ebrahim said officials were human beings who would continue to make mistakes.

“I am happy with the performances of all match officials; they make mistakes but we deal with those mistakes. It doesn’t mean if someone makes a mistake, all of a sudden they are a poor person. It doesn’t mean if two referees make a mistake, refereeing is all of a sudden poor. Errors have been happening and our review committee deals with them. This is the norm every season — when something is wrong we try our best to fix it,” he said. 

Last week Cape Town Spurs coach Ernst Middendorp seemed to have a legitimate complaint when a decisive penalty was awarded against his team in a 1-0 defeat to Sundowns when the offending challenge occurred outside the box. AmaZulu coach Pablo Franco Martin was incensed by an apparent soft penalty against his team in Usuthu's 4-2 Nedbank Cup quarterfinal defeat against Orlando Pirates on Saturday.

Ebrahim, though, said it was disappointing that the public often criticised officials because they did not fully understand Fifa rules. 

“We are concerned but it doesn’t mean mistakes are happening regularly, but people are saying mistakes are happening. Sometimes when we [Safa’s review committee] analyse we get something different to what people are assuming. 

“It is disappointing because the public in SA don’t know the laws of the game, how they are applied and how they should be understood. The first thing they jump to is the error, ‘the referee made a mistake and it cost us the game’.”